MP Abtisam Mohamed Leads Push to Help Gaza Students Reach UK Universities
Dozens of Palestinian students from Gaza with places at top UK universities remain stranded under siege, as war, famine and a collapsed visa system threaten to block their futures. Now, Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed is leading a growing parliamentary effort to change that.
Mohamed, who represents Sheffield Central, has joined forces with veteran MP Barry Gardiner to co-lead a letter signed by over 70 cross-party MPs urging the UK government to take immediate action. The letter, addressed to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, calls for the government to waive or defer biometric visa requirements for students still trapped in Gaza and to assist in facilitating safe transit to the UK.
“Unless the government makes rapid progress, students who should be starting university next month will be among those being shot at, starved, or buried beneath rubble,” the MPs warned, according to reports by Sky News.
Since Israel’s assault on Gaza began in October 2023, the only visa application centre in the Strip has been shut down, with no viable alternative in sight. Meanwhile, countries such as Ireland, France and Germany have made arrangements to evacuate their scholarship students. The UK, critics say, has yet to follow suit.
Many of the affected students have secured full scholarships to some of Britain’s leading institutions — including Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, and Edinburgh — and had hoped to begin their courses this autumn. But without biometric data, their visas cannot be processed, and the UK government has so far failed to offer a contingency route.
Who is Abtisam Mohamed?
Abtisam Mohamed is the first British MP of Yemeni origin and a former solicitor specialising in immigration and human rights. She was elected to Parliament in 2024 and now serves as Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on International Students. Her political work has consistently focused on social justice, education, and refugee rights.
Her own experience as a migrant—arriving in Sheffield from Yemen at the age of two—has shaped her commitment to defending access to education, particularly for those whose lives are affected by war and displacement.
Gaza’s Deepening Crisis
The students’ plight comes against the backdrop of what aid agencies are calling a man-made famine in Gaza. As of August 2025, nearly half a million people are facing famine-level food insecurity, with children and pregnant women most at risk. UN figures show that over 88 children died from malnutrition in July alone, while food convoys are frequently looted due to desperation. 94% of UN aid trucks entering Gaza in recent weeks failed to reach their intended destinations intact.
Medical infrastructure has collapsed, fuel is scarce, and the blockade imposed earlier this year continues to choke off humanitarian access. The World Food Programme and WHO warn that a full-scale famine is unfolding, particularly in the north, where access remains severely restricted.
For many of Gaza’s brightest students, a scholarship abroad could be a lifeline — not just for their education, but for survival. As the war grinds on, MPs like Abtisam Mohamed are pushing the UK to act before it’s too late.
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